You may recall that over the summer I worked with the folks at CRUX to put together a video (wound up being two, plus an outtakes video) that will hopefully help potential newcomers feel more at ease with coming out to one of the CRUX events. CRUX is an LGBT rock climbing group in New York City which gives potential newbs two things to worry about: rock climbing and meeting all new people. Many people have in their mind what a rock climber is, and that is usually a very in-shape probably outdoorsy person. However, rock climbing is a sport anyone can enjoy, and these videos aim to prove that.

In several other posts, I've mentioned that I'm working on adding video to my skill set. Earlier this summer I took a pretty big step on that journey and volunteered to work with CRUX, an LGBT Climbing Group in NYC, to produce a series of video interviews with the founders and members of the club. The idea behind the videos is to introduce CRUX members to potential new climbers, and show that CRUX is an open and accepting club, and that rock climbing isn't just for the ultra-fit.

All of the video was recorded on one day in June. Some was filmed at Rat Rock in Central Park, and the rest was filmed at Ft. Tryon Park while CRUX members were bouldering. The experience did exactly what I'd hoped it would do. First, it gave me a low-pressure situation to work on my recording skills (both video and sound), and also a project to work on that was pushing me to accomplish something, not just aimlessly recording video of my dog.

I started by editing the outtakes because I knew that would be a very small project in comparison to putting together video interviews with multiple people, b-roll, sync'd sound, etc. Also, by working on a smaller project, I could learn the points of video editing without working on a large project. On all counts, this succeeded.

The outtakes turned out well, and I'm really happy with it. Sure, it's odd that I'm thrilled to put together a video of people messing up, making jokes, tripping over their words, and in some cases being vulgar. But hey, in the end it's fun, and this video will do a good job I'm certain of showing anyone interested in climbing that they are welcome with CRUX.